Last night, the Cob Gallery opened its doors to Anemones and Lovers, the debut show from 23-year-old artist Faye Wei Wei. Having graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art last summer, Faye belongs to a new guard of exciting young artists breathing life into painting. Impressive in size, prowess, and warmth, her poetic utterings are steeped in references to religious iconography and classical myth. She creates her own visual language made up of animalistic and humanistic symbols. Lost in a romance of pastel tones and mark-making — and combining classical poise with vibrant immediacy — her works are often reminiscent of Picasso’s Vollard Suite. Indeed, there is a surreal lightness to her work.
“I wanted the paintings to act like characters in a play,” Faye tells i-D. “The gallery is their stage, and all together they become a part of my dream world. I am infatuated with painting. It is, for me, a romance made from rich jewel colors reacting to the skin of the canvas to create figures that bloom before me. I love poetry — Sappho, Rimbaud, Eliot — I love myths and stories. I work with these elements that play upon my memory, mixing together to form depth within the paintings. My work is a play between the figures and the symbols that surround them, their meanings coded in the fabric of the canvas.” Already building up a reputation as an exciting young talent on the art scene, Faye Wei Wei is one to watch.
‘Anemones and Lovers’ is on view at Cob Gallery through April 29. More information here.
Credits
Text Tish Weinstock
Photography Lotte Andersen. Beret Itchy Scratchy Patchy.